To Be Called Mother
by EliadetheAkuma
Summary: While investigating the murder of a young waiter at a local cafe, Detective Kevin Ryan trips onto love. Kevin Ryan/OC


Maria Garcia sipped on her vanilla latte quietly, scrolling through the text messages on her phone. Using her finger, she scrolled down to a message from her father and gently tapped the screen, causing it to open. She took a sip from her latte on impulse at the message, which detailed the death of her younger brother. With a deep sigh, she read through the message again before closing it and putting her phone down.

She put her fingers around the warm cup, staring down at the black plastic lid. She was waiting for the courage to return home to come to her. It had been around six years since she had been here, having left when she was eighteen—

"Mommy?"

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the little girl suddenly awaking her attention. She looked over at her baby and smiled. She was looking concerned, knowing that something was wrong by the look on Maria's face. She had her head tilted to the side, causing her "Snow White" black hair to tilt to that side, her brown eyes looking curious. Her skin was as white as snow, much like Snow White, making her consistently look pale. She was dressed in a matching red dress, one that was heavily adorned with small roses of matching color. Her feet were gently slid into small red flats.

She smiled wider at her little girl, who was still curiously looking at her.

"Yeah, baby?" She murmured in response, slowly taking a sip from her latte.

"When are we going to go see Grandma and Grandpa? I'm going to meet them today right, Mommy?"

"Yes, baby. Let's go. Come on." She stood and held out her hand for her daughter's. The small hand found hers as they left the café and headed towards her car.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"Can I sit up front?"

She sighed but smiled at her daughter.

"Okay."

"Yay!" The look of joy and excitement that crossed her face made her smile.

"Just like your father." She responded, getting into the driver seat with a laugh.

* * *

"Vic's name was Tony Garcia." Ryan put the photo of their victim on the board. "Parents are Lauren and Salas Garcia. Only sibling is Maria Garcia, who lives in Manhattan with her daughter, Lana."

"Any other information?" Beckett asked.

"He lived with parents and had a job at a local café. I dug through his phone records but the last call he made was two days ago."

"What about the sister?" Castle asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"She's coming down to talk to us this afternoon."

"Alright, well let's go talk the parents. See if they have any clue anyone who might have killed him."

* * *

"Tony was a good kid, a good older brother to his sisters. He was very protective of them. He wanted to hurt my oldest daughter's ex-boyfriend after he left her." Mrs. Garcia explained to them.

"Do you know anyone who might have wanted to kill Tony? Any enemies at all? Angry customers or co-workers?"

"No, no. Like Lauren explained, Tony was a good kid. He didn't make a lot of enemies." Mr. Garcia responded.

"Is it possible that your daughter's ex-boyfriend came after him? Or anyone else?"

"Actually," A look of realization crossed Mrs. Garcia's face. "My daughter's ex-boyfriend, Lucas Sear was attacked shortly after Tony said he wanted to go after him. So…"

"Lauren, Tony would never hurt Lucas." Mr. Garcia responded.

"Salas! That man left Maria with a child and nothing else. Tony was angry!"

"Whoa, whoa. Maria? As in your oldest daughter, Maria Garcia?" Castle interrupted.

"Yes, yes."

A knock suddenly came to the door, interrupting their conversation.

"Pardon me." Mrs. Garcia responded standing and leaving the room.

"Listen, my daughter Maria disgraced herself long ago when she was with that man and she is never to return to this house. That is why we haven't seen her for seven years."

"Never say never." Castle murmured and Beckett realized his attention was in the doorway. They both looked over and saw a woman standing in the doorway.

She was wearing a buttoned-up black trench coat, a white collared shirt and a set of blue jeans. Her hair was a long, black color and was in a long style with her bangs curved over her left eye. Her eyes were a stunning ocean blue and reminded Castle of a peaceful, undisturbed river. She stood at a height of 5'8", though this might have been because of her 5 inch heels.

A little girl stood in front of her, looking very much like a young Snow White. Her skin was pale and her eyes were brown. Her black hair was cut short and curly with a red bow in her hair. She was wearing a small red dress also resembling of Snow White's with red flats on her small feet. She had an innocent smile on her childish face and she was looking at all of them with such glee.

Mr. Garcia stood, his mouth open in awe. He was too awed by the little girl to take his earlier words to heart and complain about his oldest daughter's presence.

"I-is this…? Is this Lana?"

"Yes, Dad…it is." His daughter responded, giving the little girl a gentle shove.


End file.
